Sam Smith reveals he had liposuction at 12 years old, says his body image is ‘the basis of all my sadness’

Sam Smith attends the Givenchy show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2019/2020 on March 03, 2019 in Paris, France.(Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Sam Smith revealed he got liposuction to help with body-image issues when he was just a kid.

“I had liposuction, I was 12 years old,” Smith said in an interview with Jameela Jamil on Friday’s episode of her Instagram series “I Weigh Interviews.” “At the time I think I was very happy about it. It didn’t really change anything. I think I put the weight back on in two weeks because I hadn’t figured out my relationship with food, so it didn’t really change anything. But being 12 years old and having liposuction on your chest is quite a big deal.”

The “Stay With Me” crooner said he has been self-conscious for as long as he can remember, and used to get bullied because he “had breasts.”

And while his struggle with body image today is “the basis of all my sadness,” Smith decided to speak out about his insecurities because he hasn’t “really found many men talking about this.”

“Especially no well-known men,” he said. “Even doing this chat feels kind of weird, because guys don’t speak about this that much on a big scale.”

He continued, “It’s the toxic masculinity conversation isn’t that, that’s weighing over all the guys all the time. It weighs over me. It doesn’t feel manly to talk about how I feel in my body every day but that’s what I’m trying to fight against.”

Following his public revelations, Smith, 26, said the interview with Jamil “completely changed my life.”

“Being able to talk so openly about my body issues and feeling so safe whilst doing it was truly liberating…It took a lot for me to do this and I was so nervous, so please be kind haha,” he wrote on social media. “I really hope this can make someone else who feels like me, a little less lonely and a little less alien.”

With his newfound courage, the singer is taking control of the situation.

“Yesterday I decided to fight the f–k back,” he said. “Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mom and dad made and love so unconditionally.”